"Show up, shut up and push your green button"
The Oregon legislature posted the shortest special session on record today - 6 hours. And top politicians congratulated themselves on their accomplishment. But, what exactly happened?
According to the 6:00 KGW coverage, one lobbyist summed up today's special session as, "show up, shut up and push your green button." The 5:00 coverage showed footage of one lawmaker complaining that they were being asked to vote on bills that they hadn't even read.
This is frought with ironies because the lawmaker complaining is a Republican and they've never shown any qualms about Republicans in Congress ramming thru bills that nobody has had a chance to read yet. But, this wasn't a case of Oregon GOP politicos ramming bills down the throats of Dems. This was both Democrat and Republican leaders of the Oregon legislature deliberately ramming these bills thru before the lawmakers expected to pass judgement had even read them.
How did these Dem and GOP politicos accomplish this? Leadership appointed themselves to the only committee to hear the bills... approving all five in 15 minutes. Only after they'd rubberstamped the bills that they had hammered out, and thus were intimately familiar with, did they bring them before the joint session and forced them thru there.
What I want to know is why Democrats who have complained bitterly about Congressional Republicans ramming bills thru can turn a blind eye to members of their own party doing the same back here in Oregon?
Why should we citizens, regardless of party affiliation, be okay with our elected representatives being forced to represent us by voting for legislation that they haven't even read?
6 Comments:
The "legislative concepts" that formed much of the basis of the passed laws were available as of 4/17, if I read right:
http://www.leg.state.or.us/measures06s.html
whoops--meant to post the link.
Well sure. All five bills had been extensively talked about. Everyone knew that basic concepts. But is voting in favor (or against) a legislative concept the same thing as voting for or against an actual bill? I don't think it is.
I notice on the linked site that the actual text of the bills is still not available.
I think voting for concept and voting for a bill are fairly similar. Leadership passed these bills, members on both sides trust their leadership, and as such, I feel they passed five great bills. Should it be done this way all the time? No. But, this time around I think it was fair and valid.
I never understood the idea of voting on something without reading it. Florida does it too so Oregonians are in good company :(
I have a feeling every legislative body does it. The disfuntional New York legislature is imfamous for passing bills that the two main leaders hashed out behind closed doors.
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